By Wait, I thought it was supposed to be the other way around? Ford has brought their SYNC Applink platform out of beta, and has announced that it will first be featured in their 2011 Ford Fiesta. SYNC Applink allows you to control apps on your phone using your car’s built-in hardware controls (and even voice commands). Obvious uses for this would be GPS navigation, music playing, call controlling features, and more, but I wonder what else can be done with this puppy.
Julius Marchwicki from Ford gives us a demo of the technology in action with Pandora – the internet streaming radio service that everyone goes crazy about. He starts off by giving us a pretty accurate rundown of what you’d traditionally have to do to control your phone while driving. Safety is an obvious plus to this technology, and this isn’t the first time we’ve seen voice-controlled radio.
This is the first time, however, that we’ve seen a phone pair up with a car to do your bidding for you. Thus, The possibilities extend far beyond what we’ve seen, and it’ll be exciting to see what developers come up with when they get their hands on the SDK by joining the developer network now. Currently, Android and Blackberry apps are supported.
[Thanks, Engadget] [Press Release]
i love ford :) they sure as hell are getting it right now a days
I’m actual surprised the “car mode” in 2.0/2.1 doesn’t let you do exactly this already.
This is just superb technology. I can only hope that all cars start implementing systems like this soon. It’s also really cool to see Android/Blackberry get the first crack at this while iPhone support will be added later on. Not hating on iPhone, but this makes Android a little more mainstream.
I have a Prius 2010. The bluetooth feature allows me a little bit of voice commands, nothing fancy. Anyone knows if I could link the built-in android voice command directly with the Prius voice-command button?
That’d be awesome.
I’m fairly certain that I’ll be picking up a fiesta or focus as my next car, a 2011+ model of course. from what I’ve seen, they look like they are going to be really nice.
I find it funny that Sync was developed by/with Microsoft, yet there isn’t any mention of this feature supporting Windows Mobile based phones.
cars are for women
Never been a big fan of Fords, but I’m really liking the tech they’re putting in their vehicles these days. They seem to be ‘getting it’. And I do miss the voice command feature on my old WinMo phone (same thing as Sync). *AHEM* Google are you listening?
This is a great idea. Pretty soon the phone will be doing in-car media, nav, everything.
I’m with James E… Mircosoft developing with Android in mind, that’s funny!
they sure as hell are getting it right now a days
I’m with Jason-Smartphones can do some surprising stuff for your car now, even in the safety department.
“This is the first time, however, that we’ve seen a phone pair up with a car to do your bidding for you. “
This is a great idea. Pretty soon the phone will be doing in-car media, nav, everything.I’m with Jason-Smartphones can do some surprising stuff for your car now, even in the safety department.